'''Atlantic Technical Center and Technical High School (Broward County, FL)''' will be holding a Teen Tech Week “Learn to Podcast” contest. Students may enter in any of the four categories: Pi Day Podcast, PSA (Public Service Announcement), Book Lovers Podcast (Digital Book Talk, Book Trailer), and Demonstration Podcast (“How to…”). All students who enter will receive a free ticket to participate in the school Wii Tournament in April. Winners in each category will receive gift certificates. The Wii Sports Console and contest prizes will be purchased with the minigrant funds from YALSA (Thank you, YALSA!) Tech Workshops will be held during and after school throughout Teen Tech Week for students who need assistance and/or instruction with creating their podcasts. For more information including complete contest and category descriptions, plus rubrics and resources, see the "Teen Tech Week at ATC" page of the ATC Media Center website:

'''Atlantic Technical Center and Technical High School (Broward County, FL)''' will be holding a Teen Tech Week “Learn to Podcast” contest. Students may enter in any of the four categories: Pi Day Podcast, PSA (Public Service Announcement), Book Lovers Podcast (Digital Book Talk, Book Trailer), and Demonstration Podcast (“How to…”). All students who enter will receive a free ticket to participate in the school Wii Tournament in April. Winners in each category will receive gift certificates. The Wii Sports Console and contest prizes will be purchased with the minigrant funds from YALSA (Thank you, YALSA!) Tech Workshops will be held during and after school throughout Teen Tech Week for students who need assistance and/or instruction with creating their podcasts. For more information including complete contest and category descriptions, plus rubrics and resources, see the "Teen Tech Week at ATC" page of the ATC Media Center website:

The Teen Advisory Board for the '''Bartow County Library System''' in Cartersville, Georgia will use Flip Mino video cameras to create instructional videos for patrons. The teens will answer basic cell phone questions, explain how to use the online library catalog including how to renew items and place holds, and show how to set up an email account. These are just a few of the topics the instructional videos will cover. The teens will film and edit the videos before posting them to the library website, Myspace pages, and making DVDs that patrons can check out and take home.

Revision as of 07:14, 9 March 2009

Teen Tech Week Events Across the United States

Add your plans for Teen Tech Week here!

Spaulding High School Library, Barre, VT--

Activity Descriptions

• Against All Odds – Against All Odds Online gameImagine having to leave your home behind and start all over in a new country. Could you survive? Play the online game, Against All Odds. Note: There are 4 sessions.

• Geocaching with Mr. Phillips. Join Mr. Phillips to find out about geocaching—a high tech treasure hunt! Note: This is an outdoor activity and there are 2 sessions. Small classes approx. 10-12 students will work best.

• Google Earth – Walk down a street in Paris, tour the Grand Canyon, or visit the Statue of Liberty—all from your computer and free! Note: There are 2 40-minute sessions.

• It’s All About Your Screen Name. Join Mr. Aither for a screen name activity that will make you think twice. Note: there are 3 20-minute sessions.

• Scratch: Design a Computer Game – Create a computer game using free software created MIT students called Scratch.

• Spaulding’s Virtual Footprint. The SHS Civics class will look at Spaulding’s website and make suggestions about what we want to tell the world about our school.

• Texting Contest with Mr. Hennessey. Yes, really! Mr. Hennessey will visit your TA to see who’s the fastest texter. Fast AND accurate of course. Note: There are 5 sessions and good cell phone reception in your TA is necessary.

• Thinking About Life After Spaulding??? Explore career and/or college options on Vermont Guidance Central. Note: There are 2 40-minute sessions.

Gaming Night and More

At the Pitkin County Library in Aspen, Colorado we will be hosting a gaming night at the library and highlighting our new YA nonfiction collection which includes several titles on gaming- gaming careers, gaming strategies and game building. We will also introduce our new playaway collection which includes 20 YA titles at the event!

Anime Party

The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County in Mount Vernon, Ohio will hold a Teen Tech Week Anime Party that will function as the first meeting of our new Anime Club. We will watch the first DVD of the science fiction anime series "Lost Universe". We will also have a guest speaker who lived in Japan come and talk about Japanese culture. As our Anime Club gets going, we hope to help teens learn to make digital animations on their own.

Photography and Social Networking

The Clermont County Public Library in Clermont County, Ohio is celebrating Teen Tech Week with contests that showcase photography skills and teens’ knowledge of social networking emoticons, acronyms and symbols. The winner of the photography contest will have their images printed on Moo mini cards which will be distributed throughout Clermont County publicizing our upcoming Teen Summer Reading Program - "Express Yourself @ your library." Several of our library branches are also hosting Teen Game Nights with our recently purchases Wii consoles.

Teen Tech Bingo

At the Johnson County Library, we will be playing Teen Tech Bingo! Teens will get a bingo card with a variety of Tech Activities such as create an online comic or create an avatar. Each activity completed marks a bingo spot. Small prizes will be awarded for a bingo. Large prizes will be awarded for a blackout! --Stephanie Iser, Assistant Manger at Oak Park Neighborhood Library of Johnson County Library

Techno-buddies--technology help provided by teens

Members of the Teen Advisory Board of the Ocean County Library's Lacey branch will provide hour-long tutoring sessions for people who need assistance in programming cell phones, surfing the internet or signing up for an email account. Last year, adults who received assistance were tremendously impressed with the knowledge, communication skills and patience of our teen volunteers. Feel free to ask me for details on this program. --Karla Ivarson, Teen Librarian, Lacey branch of the Ocean County Library (kivarson@theoceancountylibrary.org)

Hands-on Wikipedia

We're creating a page for our library on Wikipedia. Teens will learn how to edit wikis (and why teachers won't allow Wikipedia to be a research paper resource), and the library gets more coverage. We'll be adding a link to our town/county wiki pages too. -- Eleanor wood, Adult Librarian at Decatur Public Library.

Resumes, Gaming, and Make your own Computer

We are starting off TTW with a Resume Help Workshop for teens who are trying to get their first job and need to have a resume. We are also having gaming nights at the Main Library, but the best thing we are doing is a Program on How to Make Your Own Computer that will be happening on Friday. Teens will get to learn how to build a computer from scratch. -- Hannah Berry, Young Adult Librarian, Aurora Public Library - Main Library.

Myspace Matchup

We're hosting events Monday-Friday, but the most interesting one should be a dating game called Myspace Matchup. Complete with a cheesy host and audience cue cards, the goal of this program is to teach teens about internet safety. We have created three myspace profile look alikes in Microsoft Power Point and written out scripts for our teen bachelorettes. What the teen bachelor doesn't know is that all of the profiles are based on the lives of actual female serial killers. When we've all had our laughs, as I'm sure we will the teens will be presented with tips on staying safe online and information that shouldn't be on their profiles. - Mz. Library Lady, Lakeland Public Library

Music, Guitars and More!"

The Greenpoint Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library has 5 days of programming for Teen Tech Week. Programming includes Guitar Hero and Rock Band contests, Anime/Manga Club, Teen RIF and Music Appreciation! Since the theme is Press Play, I will be handing out earbuds in celebration of the event. Also, our local Friends group bought about 20 1GB flash drives for the teens as gifts! I'm sure all the teens will be really excited to celebrate Teen Tech Week, especially because of the goodies :) - Jennifer Thompson, YA Librarian, Greenpoint Branch, Brooklyn Public Library

Teen Tech Week 2009 Mini Grant Winners' Events

The Livingston-Park County Public Library (Livingston, Montana) will celebrate Teen Tech Week with an inter-generational program called "Get Fit Gaming!" Members of our Teen Library Council and Library Teen Team will serve as 'personal trainers' for senior citizens who would like to learn how to use the Wii Fit and Wii Sports activity programs. Following Teen Tech Week, exercise sessions will continue each Wednesday afternoon through April. Our Teen Tech Week grant helped us purchase the Wii along with the necessary games and extra controllers.

In celebration of the theme "Press Play @ Your Library", and stemming from an interest among our patrons in music programming and computer games, West Springfield Public Library plans to use the Teen Tech Week grant to purchase a Wii and Rockband for our youth room. The library staff is as excited as the patrons, and we are already thinking about forming a librarian 'band' to challenge the teens. Our high school interns this year planned a CD-sharing event that now occurs monthly at the library called Pump It Up! that has yielded some surprising revelations about what teens are listening to-- Classic rock is so-called for a reason, apparently, and Rockband is sure to be enthusiastically embraced for this, too.

The Normal Public Library in Normal, Illinois will be using the money from the Teen Tech Week Grant to purchase several games for the Wii, including Rock Band, which will enable us to set up a regular gaming program. Our first Game Day will take place during Teen Tech Week, and we hope to continue to have monthly game days at the library. Our teens have expressed a lot of interest in gaming at the library, and we hope that regular gaming events will continue to draw in new teens and help to familiarize them with the library, its staff, and what we have to offer them.

Teen Central at the Hennepin County Library will use our Teen Tech Week Grant a "Party Like It's Teen Tech Week" event to celebrate creative uses of technology by and for teens. The party will be hosted by our Teen Advisory Group from whom the idea for the grant originated. The main event will be a workshop on Circuit-Bending led by Librarian Camden Tadhg, who will be trained by the Science Museum of Minnesota. In having a staff member train for this event, rather than bringing in an outside presenter, we hope to spread this knowledge throughout the Hennepin County Library system with a "train the trainer" model. Additionally, our Teen Tech Squad will work one-on-one with teens in using rich media creation software such as Scratch, GIMP, Audacity, and ArtRage. The highlight of the day will hopefully be a Circuit Bending Jam Session where we will record the teen participants making music with the instruments they create during the Circuit Bending workshop.

Baraboo Public Library in Baraboo Wisconsin will be using our mini grant to improve our teen space in the library. A large, dark brick wall will soon be covered with a bright high-tech mural designed by a local teen artist. Teens will learn how to wire LED lights, construct LED clocks, and make a scrolling marquee as we combine paint, electronic gadgets, and bling bling to create a unique and eye-catching focal point for our teen area.

Passages Academy Library in Brooklyn, NY will be using our mini grant to purchase Nintendo DS systems and games. Because our students are incarcerated by New York City's Department of Juvenile Justice, they are not permitted to use the internet and have little exposure to technology while they are with us. We hope to use these systems to promote visual literacy and as incentive to participate in reading and gaming programs throughout our school library's sites in Brooklyn. It is our intention that these systems will be the beginning of ongoing gaming programs and technology programs at Passages Academy Library. During Teen Tech Week, we will be gathering student responses to the new initiative to better inform future development.

The Hayward Public Library will use the Teen Tech Week mini grant to fund a program called Manga Tech. Many of our teens are budding manga artists, this program will show them how to digitize their work. The library will purchase copies of the Tokyopop Manga Creator Software and manga clip art books. During Teen Tech Week, teens will be introduced to the software, learn graphic novel story structure from a local comic book author and play with the software to create their manga. At the end of the week, we will host a party to share their original manga and play manga related videogames. Manga created using this software will be added to the collection and loaded onto the web.

The Salem Church Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library will use the TTW mini grant to fund a weeklong event, entitled, "Through Teen Eyes: Press Play @ Your Library!" Using the popularity of films and audio-visual experience, we will teach our teen patrons how to use Flip Video camcorders, purchased with grant funds, and the accompanying video-editing software. The teens will use these to record their original films, culminating in a Film Festival to showcase their work. We will begin the exciting week with a visit from a local newspaper movie reviewer, who will talk with the teens about what makes a good movie, and techniques they will want to consider or avoid while writing their screenplays. We anticipate that the films will show the teen world from their perspective, and that future use of the cameras will include making films about how to use new features of the library, as well as videos of programs and special events. Because a large proportion of the teens we serve come from technologically disadvantaged households, we hope that this experience will also help level the tech-playing field for them.

The West Covina Library, in the County of Los Angeles Public Library System, will be using their TTW MiniGrant funds to organize PLAY @ the West Covina Library. Teens will be able to write and tape a trailer about their favorite book, movie, or other library resource using Flip cameras purchased with the grant funds. The trailers will premiere for all library visitors on the last day of TTW, and the trailers will be shown on the television in the Teen Area of the library on a continuing basis.

The Grand Rapids Public Library in Michigan will be using their grant funds to purchase Flip Video cameras for teens to use in developing their YouTube videos on the topic of "It's Easy Being Green". It will also be used to do Twitter booktalks, especially for "Rash" by Pete Hautman, during TTW. Our teen programs are always promoted on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. Our Facebook account has almost 1000 friends!

ArTech Fun @ the Dorris Van Doren Regional Branch (El Paso Public Library System in Texas)
This program combines art and technology through the use of Wacom’s Bamboo Fun Tablet. Funds will be used to purchase two digital drawing tablets and a small collection of digital art books to help teens take their art to the next level. Guest speakers will be invited to show teens how to use a digital drawing tablet and talk about their careers. Teens will then be able to reserve time slots to work on two projects. The first project is to create promotional art for the summer reading club and perhaps create an animated short. The second project is to create or upload their own artwork to be showcased in an art show that they plan at the library.

Atlantic Technical Center and Technical High School (Broward County, FL) will be holding a Teen Tech Week “Learn to Podcast” contest. Students may enter in any of the four categories: Pi Day Podcast, PSA (Public Service Announcement), Book Lovers Podcast (Digital Book Talk, Book Trailer), and Demonstration Podcast (“How to…”). All students who enter will receive a free ticket to participate in the school Wii Tournament in April. Winners in each category will receive gift certificates. The Wii Sports Console and contest prizes will be purchased with the minigrant funds from YALSA (Thank you, YALSA!) Tech Workshops will be held during and after school throughout Teen Tech Week for students who need assistance and/or instruction with creating their podcasts. For more information including complete contest and category descriptions, plus rubrics and resources, see the "Teen Tech Week at ATC" page of the ATC Media Center website:
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The Teen Advisory Board for the Bartow County Library System in Cartersville, Georgia will use Flip Mino video cameras to create instructional videos for patrons. The teens will answer basic cell phone questions, explain how to use the online library catalog including how to renew items and place holds, and show how to set up an email account. These are just a few of the topics the instructional videos will cover. The teens will film and edit the videos before posting them to the library website, Myspace pages, and making DVDs that patrons can check out and take home.